March 21 Iowa Learning Farms Workshop at Welton Features Cover Crops

AMES, Iowa — Iowa Learning Farms will host a cover crops workshop, along with the Eastern Iowa Hay Producers Association, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Practical Farmers of Iowa, on Thursday, March 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Buzzy’s Pizza in Welton. The workshop will focus on cover crops for feed, soil and nutrient management.

Topics covered at the event include strategies and goals for cover crop implementation, incorporating cover crops for rotational grazing and row crops with livestock; and includes a field tour at the Neal Engel farm, in Jackson County. The workshop will have presentations and discussion with Sarah Carlson, research and policy director at Practical Farmers of Iowa; Mark Carlton, ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomist; Bruce Van Laere with Natural Resources Conservation Service in Clinton County and a panel including Neal Engel and other area cover crop farmers.

The event is free and includes a complimentary lunch. This workshop is in conjunction with the EIHPA annual meeting. The EIHPA will collect annual dues as part of the business meeting at the workshop. The public is invited to attend, but an RSVP is recommended. To register for this event, please call one of these county NRCS offices: Cedar County, 563-886-6214; Clinton County, 563-659-3456; Dubuque County, 563-876-3418; Jackson County, 563-652-3237; Jones County, 319-462-3196. All numbers will use extension 3.

The workshop will be held at Buzzy’s Pizza, 414 Main St., Welton. The field tour will be to the Neal Engel farm, 25439 Iowa Highway 64, Maquoketa. The farm is located four miles southeast of Maquoketa at the junction of Highway 64 and County Road Y-60; approximately 10 miles north of Welton on Y-60.

Iowa Learning Farms takes a grassroots approach offering innovative ways to help all Iowans have an active role in keeping the state’s natural resources healthy and not take them for granted. A goal of Iowa Learning Farms is to build a Culture of Conservation, encouraging the adoption of residue management and conservation practices. Farmers, researchers and ILF team members are working together to identify and implement the best in-field management practices that increase water and soil quality while remaining profitable.

Iowa Learning Farms is a partnership of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Iowa Department of Natural Resources (USEPA section 319); in cooperation with Conservation Districts of Iowa, the Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Water Center.